1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to holders for comestible products and, more particularly, to holders for supporting tacos in a vertical orientation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Certain types of comestible products such as hamburgers, tacos, and the like, include an edible portion such as a shell, bun, or other wrapper in which various foods are disposed. These comestible products usually are eaten by hand, rather than by the use of utensils. In the usual case, this means that the comestible products must be handled a certain number of times before they are completely consumed. In turn, foods disposed within the edible portion often are dislodged, with resultant messiness and waste.
Other problems occur in the preparation of the comestible products themselves. For example, when tacos are being made, the shell, which is made of a hardened tortilla in the shape of a trough-like structure, must be oriented vertically upwardly in order that various foods may be packed into the shell. If many tacos are to be prepared as, for example, in a restaurant production line, it is desirable that many tacos be made quickly and that they be handled as little as possible to prevent their contents from being spilled.
It is known to orient a plurality of taco shells vertically upwardly for loading, and various prior art devices could be used for that purpose, if desired. Unfortunately, no completely acceptable holder is available for supporting individual tacos in a vertically upward orientation for consumption, nor is any acceptable holder available for making a plurality of tacos and serving the plurality of tacos for consumption directly from the holder. Although various devices exist which theoretically could hold a taco or a plurality of tacos, all of these devices suffer drawbacks, such as excessive manufacturing expense, difficulty in cleaning, lack of capability to support a taco for ease of consumption, or lack of attractiveness to the consumer.